One of the most common concerns of prospective clients is "my dog is not good off leash and will run off if he is off leash" along with "my dog is very reactive with other dogs or when there are lots of people around". This is because most, if not all my photos on my website and social media shows dogs / pets with no leash.
Let me let you in to a little bit of a secret... more than 90% of the dogs I photograph are just like yours in that most of them are on a lead the whole time during our session. I also work with reactive and anxious dogs.
Plus your dog's safety is my number one priority during our pet photography session.
Here are a couple of factors that I always consider to make sure that your dog is safe and happy during our session:
Leashes
As I mentioned above, most dogs I photograph are on a lead the whole time. With the help of Photoshop and snazzy editing skills and lots of detail work, I am able to remove the leash and some body parts too! Even if your dog is great off lead, I usually prefer them to be on a lead at all times as some of the locations I shoot require dogs to be on a lead. Unless it's very safe to do so, your dog has great recall and won't run off, and it's allowed in the area, then we can take your dog off the lead.
Here is an example of a before and after photo of a recent shoot I did with two gorgeous golden retrievers, Dasher and Comet. Move the slider left and right to see the before photo (right out of camera) vs after photo (fully edited).
As you can see, there's a lot of work that goes behind the scene to get your final images ready for your artwork and removing the leash (and sometimes body parts) is one of the process.
Locations
One of the factors that impacts safety during our photo shoot is location. When you first book with me, you would have booked in a session consultation appointment with me. There we will talk about your dogs and what their personality is like, their training etc. We will also talk about locations. I offer both studio and outdoor pet photography sessions, but most people book me for my outdoor session. For the outdoor locations, I usually have several locations that I often go to. When we talk about your dog and if your dog is anxious or reactive to other dogs or people, I usually recommend a couple of places that are quiet, has less distractions and not many people or dogs around.
Another factor is that maybe your dog is a senior dog and is more comfortable at home. I also do sessions at client's home, especially for senior dogs and also for cats. This will allow them to be more comfortable and feel safer during our photo shoot. Another option for location is a studio shoot at my home studio where the dogs can freely roam around my studio without you having to worry about them running off. At the studio I will let them sniff around and roam around until they feel comfortable and relaxed and then we would start the shoot.
Have you got any other safety concerns that prevent you from booking in a shoot? Or are there other concerns you have? Do let me know and I can make sure to address it. Why not come and meet me and book in a consultation appointment and we can chat about your concerns and talk about how we can give you a memorable and fun pet photography experience?
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Follow the circle
Check out my fellow pet photographer's blog circle. Most of my fellow pet photographers in the circle is in the northern hemisphere, you'll discover some posts about the safety during photo shoots. Next in the circle is Dallas dog photographer Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography says yes, your dog can be on leash during their photo session (and nobody will ever know).
Make sure to follow along and click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here.
2 Comments
May 11, 2022, 6:28:41 PM
Tracy Allard - I still think you have some of the best photo shoot locations on the planet, sooooo jealous (and gorgeous pictures as always).
Apr 29, 2022, 8:29:31 PM
Nancy - Such a great image of the retrievers